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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Wingham Advance-Times, 1954-01-20, Page 10' The Wingham were doing the right thing by ignor- Through Town Traffic Troubles A fellow told us the other day, and in all seriousness, too, that he’d rather drive in the city traffic than tajce his car down Josephine Street. We chuckled to ourselves, but refrain­ ed from saying anything impolite. Be­ ing an old hand at city driving, we thought we’d better leave him with his illusions. A lot of people think that city driv­ ing’s a cinch. They go to the city for a long week-end, and being naturally clear-eyed, clean-living, quick-think­ ing and staedy nerved types, they man­ age to get along fine. Maybe they even get back without a bumped fen­ der, a traffic violation ticket or a case of heebeejeebees. The exhilara­ tion of having gone to Toronto, driv­ en around town for a week-end, and returned without a scratch, gives them the idea they’ve mastered city driving. They don’t know the half of it. Driving around on a week-end (when everybody’s out of town, any­ how) is one thing. Driving around every day of the week in the rush hour periods is something else again. Yes, indeed. Every time we used to back the jalopy out of the garage (at great risk of being hit in the rear end by some harassed character late for an appointment) we used to ask ourselves, “Will we make it unscathed again today?” There are several things about city driving that most people from the great outside don’t seem to appreciate. Starting and stopping, for instance. At first they think it’s kind of fun. Gives them a chance to show off their expert gear shifting, too. Any fool can change gears. We used to change gears all right. We used to go through no less than seventeen intersections with stop­ lights—all of them red, we’ll swear. Not only that but we used to follow the time-honored Toronto tradition of sitting at the red light with the motor screaming and the clutch almost out, ready for the take-off. A block far­ ther down the street at the best light we’d come to a grinding stop a bare two feet ahead of the pack—if we were lucky. Try that a couple of times a day, every day, and you’ll find it’s hard on the nerves as well as the clutch, brakes, transmission and auto­ matic tail light. Then there are complications about city driving that the outsider doesn’t realize. Take the “No Left Turn” signs. These are annoying at any time, es­ pecially if you have to go six blocks out of your way to get back to where you were going because you had for­ gotten you couldn’t make a left turn at that corner. At least the sign stated clearly “No Left Turn” and there was no gnawing doubts as to whether you ; ing the temptation and going straight i" ^through. ; Other signs aren’t so simple. One I that used to confuse us read “No Left ■ Turn 7.30 to 9,30 and 4.30 to 6.30, Sat­ urdays 7,30 to 9.30 and 11.30 to 1,30." The thing was so small you couldn’t read.it until you were in the middle of the interescction, and by the time you had read the fine print, figured out what it meant and calculated what day of the week it was, you dis­ covered that you’d left your watch at home on the dresser table, and didn’t know the time. The light had turned red in the mean time anyhow, and here were all these cars coming at you full speed from both sides, honk­ ing as they came. We used to have nightmares about that one. There are other hazards, too. If you haven’t a pretty fine eye when it comes to beating streetcars, you’re liable to be pushed through the back of the car parked at the other side of the intersection under the “No Parking” sign. You need second sight when it comes to figuring out the other fellow’s next move, or you’re liable to come to grief passing a car just after he has edged over to the right to get a good run at that left hand turn he wants to make. And if you aren’t hep to the three and four­ way traffic signals (they probably have 5-way by now) you’re apt to get into the path of the wrong traffic lane and be crushed under the thun­ dering herd. Or end up with a tall, thin model, after passing between two strcetcara One thing we will say about city driving, though. You learn fast. Be­ fore you know it you’ve acquired the knack of beating a stop light .either orange or red. Weaving in and out of traffic is something which sometimes requires long years of practice to per­ fect. However even the beginner can try it if he has good brakes, a strong constitution and public liability insur­ ance. Jockeying for position at the red light, in readiness for the take-off is a fine art and require a quick eye and a good deal of foresight. However, we think that the test of a good city driver is the way he hand­ les his pedestrians. Needless to say he does this with a firm hand on the wheel and a firm foot on the acceler­ ator. While discouraging at the out­ set any attempt on the part of the pedestrian to leave the pavement, the good city driver is master of the sit­ uation, even if they do leave the con­ fines of the curb. He knows when to speed up and when to slow down, which is practically never. Approach­ ing a pedestrian crossing he knows instinctively which ones he can cow and which frantic souls are apt to fling themselves in front of his ve­ hicle. A good city driver may scare them to death, but he never hits his pedestrian. You don’t learn all that in a week-end. Us, we’d rather drive on Josephine street if they triple parked on both sides and had two lanes of tractor trailers passing in the middle. And sometimes it seems like that. Mrs. 51* Women’s Institute Ernest Gaunt opened her home on Monday for the monthly meeting of the Women's Institute, when 20 Jadies were present. Mrs, E. Barbour, the president, was in the chair, and the roll call was well re­ sponded to by “What health rule did you emphasize to a child?” It was de­ cided to charge 50c admission to fut­ ure social eveings with ladies supply­ ing lunch free. There was a panel discussion re­ garding a scholarship for 4H club girls of Huron County with Mrs, Fred McQuillin, Mrs, Jas. Curran, Mrs. Harvey Webb and Mrs. E, W. Rice taking part. Later a negative vote was taken regarding participation in this scholarship Mrs. Barbour, Mrs Fred McQuillin and Mrs. A, Gaunt were appointed to interview the council in regard to the community hall, Mrs Harvey Webb had the motto on “A merry heart does good like medicines,” and Mrs. Frank McQuillin, convener of home Econom­ ics and Health read an informative article on “Cancer” and one on “Home- lynch was served with Lloyd Hunter and Mrs. Ross Gammie as hostesses, W. M, SR Annual Meeting Thirteen ladles ’were in attendance on Wednesday afternoon at the home of Mrs. Lome Woods for the annual meeting of the W. M, S. and the W. A. of the United Ghurch, Mrs, W. I, Miller was in the chair for the W. M. S. The treasr -er reported that ?182 had beep forwarded to the Presbyter- ial treasurer for 1953, and the reports of the secretary and the conveners showed a successful year. Each of the conveners read a short article regard­ ing their department Mrs, Jas. Curran had charge of the W. A. meeting. The theme for the year is “A Full Time Christian” and that for this service was “The King­ dom/* Mrs, Frank McQuillin read the Scripture lesson and Mrs. Alex Mur- die the lesson thoughts. The places of meeting and the hostesses were ar­ ranged for the year. The roll call was responded to by the paying of fees. At the conclusion lunch was served by the hostesses, Miss W. D. Rutherford and Mrs. T. J, Todd. FIRST CLASS WATCH REPAIRS AT MODERATE PRICES Owing to lack of space, am com­ pelled to confine my repairs to watches only. George Williams Located In MASON’S STORE If you had a business problem facing you which could involve a great loss, would you ask the advice of a friend or a business counsellor? Naturally, you would ask the expert. Then, what about your will? Improperly administered, it could mean a great loss to J four family. We are glad to act as sole Executor, or in con- unction with one or more other Executors you might appoint, ,KE STERLING TRUSTS CORPO R.ATION HEAD OFFICE ' " BRANCH Ol 372 Bay St., Toronto n 1-3 Dunlop Stv Mrs. will McCrostio Is a patient In the Wingham Hospital suffering’-from pneumonia. ' Mr. Gordon MacPherson is making favourable Progress following an op­ eration for hernia in the Wingham Hospital on Tuesday. The death occurred in Clinton on Monday of Mr, Frank Weatherhead, a former resident of the village. 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